Central Institute for Cotton Research Nagpur
Downloaded from www.cicr.org.in

Technical Bulletin from CICR (www.cicr.org.in)

1

Transgenic Bt Cotton

TRANSGENIC Bt COTTON 1. Introduction

Cotton is one of the major fibre crops of global significance. It is cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions of more than eighty countries of world occupying nearly 33 m ha with an annual production of 19 to 20 million tones of bales. China, U.S.A., India, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Australia, Brazil, Greece, Argentina and Egypt are major cotton producing countries. These countries contribute nearly 85% of the global cotton production. In India, cotton is being cultivated in 9.0 m ha and stands first in acreage. The crop is grown in varied agro-climatic situation across nine major states viz. Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The crop is also grown on small area in Orissia, Assam, U.P and West Bengal. Nearly 60 million people are engaged in cotton production, marketing and processing. The textile industry which utilizes the cotton provides employment to about 16% of the total workforce. Cotton in its various forms also serves as raw material for more than 25 industries. The decision of the Genetic Engineering Approval committee (GEAC) of Government of India clearing the release of Bt cotton for commercial cultivation during 2002-2003 crop season, is considered as one of the major milestones in the history of cotton improvement in India. Incidentally, cotton happens to be the first crop to receive environment clearance as GMO in Indian Agriculture, and thus has received maximum attention from planners, scientists, social workers, media, farmers and general public. With liberalization of world trade following WTO formation, quality and price competitiveness have become the buzz words not only for export performance but also for domestic use. India made significant strides in productivity since independence. The country was producing only 2.3 m bales of short and medium staple cotton from 4.4 million ha (with production of 88 kg lint / ha). With two major technological interventions viz. introduction of hybrid technology in early seventies and molecules in early eighties, productivity rose to 300 kg lint/ha. However, the protection technology has been misused and started showing negative impact, thus stagnating yields for the last 5-6 years. Today, productivity of Indian cottons is lowest in the world. In contrast, the major cotton producing countries have productivity 3 to 5 times higher. There are many reasons of low productivity of cotton in India. Besides dependency on 70% cotton production on vagaries on monsoon, diverse ecological and soil conditions, constant threat from pests and diseases is considered a major biological challenge to successful cotton productivity. Amongst the biotic stress factor, bollworms are by far the most serious pests of cotton and alternative controlling strategies, such as Bt cotton is considered a welcome technological step.

2.

Why Bt Cotton?

In India, 162 species of insect pests attack different stages of cotton. Of these, about a dozen are major and half of them are key production constraints necessitating management interventions in the crop ecosystem. The sucking pest complex comprising of aphids, jassids, thrips and whitefly are widespread and fairly serious. However, their damage can be efficiently contained by the existing practices of cultural, chemical, biological and host resistance means. The bollworms are most important tissue feeders and highly damaging. Three types of bollworms viz. American bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera), Pink bollworm (Pectionphora gossypiella) and Spotted bollworm (Earias vitella), normally referred as bollworm complex are...

YOU MAY ALSO FIND THESE DOCUMENTS HELPFUL

...Cotton, like many other plants, has a variety of pests which harm the plant and lower the amount of cotton a farmer produces. To combat this issue researchers have genetically modified cotton so that the plant excretes a toxin that is harmful to many of these pests, like Bollworms.
BTCotton stands for Bacillus thuringiensis, a bacterium. This bacterium produces and endotoxin, which is lethal to many of the pests....

...COMP 2000
31 March 2014
The Human-Animal Relationship Within Transgenics
The pigs, pale pink and bristly, trot around the pen, stopping every so often to root in piles of bedding. They grunt and squeal and wag their short curlicue tails. All three like a hard scratch on the rump. In almost every way, these broad-backed oinkers are just like the other Yorkshire pigs at the opposite end of the barn. All except for the brackish green muck that oozes from their backsides. And the...

...Illupaikudi in the Perambalur district of Tamil Nadu. People see a change from old, about to fall houses to proper, independent houses where the people staying are mostly farmers. And people will think like this because of the large scale pest attack on the cotton crops about 5 years ago which had destroyed almost all the crops and put everybody under enormous debts.
Now, there are people working in the fields, de-weeding the plants and about to sow the plants. And of...

...﻿
Cotton Fibers
Name: Maya Abou Ajram
Subject: Design Material 2
Year: Fall 2014-2015
Introduction
Cotton is a soft staple fiber that grown in a form known as a boll around the seeds of the cotton plant, a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions. Cotton fibers are mainly made up of cellulose. Under natural conditions, the cotton bolls will tend to increase the dispersion of the seeds. The cotton...

...by humans but in the case of transgenic animals they have yet to be publically available to consumers. The process of transgenesis involves the introduction of exogenous genes from one species and incorporating it into the genome of another species. As a result the characteristics of the incorporated gene will be expressed in the new species. The most common methods facilitating transgenesis involve plasmid vectors, pronuclear injection and viral vectors....

...Transgenic Animals and Plants
What is a transgenic animal/plant?
A transgenic animal or plant is one that has a foreign gene (called a "transgene") inserted into its DNA. Transgenic animals and plants are sometimes called "genetically modified organisms" or GMO's for short.
What is a transgene?
A transgene is the foreign gene that has been moved from one organism into a new organism by genetic engineering. For example, a...

...organisms. Transgenics has also led to a better understanding of gene function, allowing for better understanding of human diseases such as Alzheimer's, diabetes, and cancer. For some, such as the starving poor and those afflicted with genetically-caused diseases, transgenic organisms are a blessing. For others, such as poor farmers and the animals themselves, genetic engineering spells the end of the world.
The Federation of European Laboratory Animal...

...Transgenic Animals
Mammals that glow fluorescent colors. A fearless mouse. A goat that spins spider silk. These animals do not exist naturally, but thanks to transgenesis, a process in which foreign genes are inserted into an animal's DNA, they are around today. Scientists create so-called transgenic animals to investigate disease treatments, produce natural material and expand scientific knowledge. The general principle of producing a GMO(genetically modified...